PA5«. 

FAaf.  IS. 


from 


to  t|)e 


3^|)tltpptnes 


FOUR  YEARS  OF  METHODIST 
EPISCOPAL  MISSION  WORK  IN 
SOUTHERN  ASIA 

By 

BUhop  FRANK  W.  WARNE 


THE  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 
METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH 
Rindge  Literature  Department 
150  nFTH  AVENUE.  NEW  YORK 


from 

'Balucl^ijstan  to  ti^e 


Bishop  FRANK  W.  WARNE 


Address  delivered  before  the  General  Conference  of  1904 
Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


INDIA  is  more  a continent  than  a country,  con- 
taining about  one  fifth  of  the  earth’s  popu- 
lation, governed  by  the  white  man,  and 
most  of  her  people,  like  ours,  belonging  to 
the  Aryan  race;  therefore  we  hav^e  a special  re- 
sponsibility and  opportunity,  and  the  destiny  of 
India’s  multiplied  millions  is  peculiarly  in  the  hands 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

Their  peculiar  intellectual  power  is  embodied  in 
their  philosophical  religion.  Neither  at  Athens, 
Ephesus,  nor  at  Rome  did  Paul  face  such  a powerful 
philosophical  religious  system  as  do  our  mission- 
aries in  India.  Those  religious  systems  were  bom 
after  Hinduism,  and  have  been  so  long  dead  that 
even  their  names  are  ancient  history.  Buddhism 
came  and  struggled  bravely  for  full  fifteen  centuries 
to  reform  Hinduism,  but  was  driven  out  by  the 
wily  Brahman.  During  eight  centuries  the  Moham- 
medans pursued  their  bloody,  iconoclastic,  religious 
propaganda,  yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  over  two 
hundred  millions  to-day  in  India,  under  Brahman 
influence,  worship  the  hideous  idols  of  Hinduism, 
a 


BEGINNING  OF  INDIA’S  ELEVATION 

Though  all  these  mighty  non-Christian  influences 
utterly  failed  to  reform  and  elevate  caste-cursed 
India,  yet,  under  the  combined  influence  of  a Chris- 
tian government  and  Christian  missions,  there  is  a 
magnificent  beginning  of  India’s  elevation  and  sal- 
vation. The  government  has  given  India  twenty- 
six  thousand  miles  of  railway,  on  which  all  castes 
travel  together,  and  tins  lifts  up  the  lowest  and  levels 
down  the  highest  caste  people.  Further,  the  gov- 
ernment has  fourteen  million  acres  under  irrigation. 
In  one  place  a timnel  was  made  one  and  one  fourth 
miles  in  length  through  a mountain,  thus  diverting 
part  of  a river  from  its  course,  pouring  it  out  upon 
tlie  plain  and  irrigating  160,000  acres,  from  which 
400,000  people  are  fed,  and  the  people  gratefully 
declare  that  the  white  man  has  done  what  their  gods 
cannot  do. 

The  princely  American  gifts  to  alle\date  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  famine-stricken  people  have  favorably 
influenced  great  multitudes.  Government  and 
missions  combined  have  given  India  various  college 
centers,  and  20,000  students  annually  attend  these 
seats  of  learning.  These,  with  many  lower-grade 
schools,  unite  in  elevating  and  Christianizing  India. 
Nevertheless,  India  is  so  many-sided  and  has  such 
an  enormous  population  that  even  with  all  these 
elevating  advantages  it  is  estimated  that  there  are 
still  60,000,000  people  in  India  so  poor  that  they 
seldom,  if  ever,  retire  to  rest  having  had  a meal  that 
satisfies.  Only  eleven  per  cent  of  the  males  of 
India  and  a little  more  than  one  half  of  one  per  cent 
of  the  females  can  read.  Nine  tenths  of  the  300,- 
000,000  people  in  India  live  in  villages  averaging 
360  persons  to  a village.  Livingstone  received  his 
call  to  his  great  lifework  by  hearing  Moffat,  after 
returning  from  Africa,  say,  “I  can  see  the  smoke  of  a 
3 


thousand  villages  where  the  Gospel  has  not  gone.” 
I have  to  report  that  after  a quadrennium  of  exten- 
sive travel  in  India  I can  see  the  smoke  not  of  a 
thousand  villages,  not  of  a hundred  thousand,  but  of 
five  hundred  thousand  villages  in  which  there  is  not 
a Christian.  WTio  can  estimate  the  opportunity 
and  the  responsibility  of  the  Christian  Church  in 
India?  May  many  Li'vingstones  hear  the  call! 

BURMA 

Burma  is  the  second  country  in  our  Southern  Asia 
field,  and  its  size  and  geographical  position  make  it 
of  very  great  importance  in  the  chain  of  our  Asiatic 
Missions.  It  borders  on  India,  China,  Siam,  and 
the  Malay  States,  and  has  a long  seacoast.  Its  pop- 
ulation is  not  so  dense  as  India  and  China;  many 
thousands  of  the  emigrating  population  from  both 
countries  pour  into  Burma,  and  their  commingling 
in  social  customs,  religion,  labor,  and  business 
brings  the  missionary  face  to  face  with  one  of  the 
most  intensely  interesting  and  perplexing  social  and 
religious  problems  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  Burmese  are  bright  and  have  no  caste  sj'stem, 
as  in  India;  they  have  the  piu-est  form  of  Buddhism; 
seventy  per  cent  of  their  males  can  read,  and  Bud- 
dhist children  flock  to  good  Christian  schools.  Mis- 
sionary success  in  Burma  will  mark  a great  advance 
in  the  Eastern  world.  Our  Mission  has  outlined  an 
extensive  plan  for  evangelistic  work,  multitudes 
thoughtfully  listen  to  the  Gospel,  and  we  confidently 
look,  from  among  the  Burmese,  for  a great  movement 
toward  Christianity.  I greatly  desire  that  Burma 
should,  in  a large  measure,  be  on  the  heart  and  re- 
membered in  the  prayers  and  gifts  of  the  whole 
Church  as  one  of  her  great  and  most  hopeful  mission 
fields. 


i 


MALAYSIA 


Malaysia  includes  a peninsula  and  an  “ island 
continent”  with  a present  population,  excluding  the 
Philippines,  about  equal  to  that  of  the  United  States. 
The  coming  importance  of  this  held  is  suggested  by 
the  fact  that  Java,  one  of  the  smaller  islands,  has 
now  a population  of  37,000,000 ; the  other  islands 
have  an  equally  good  soil  and  climate,  and  when 
they  are  as  densely  populated  they  will  support 
over  400,000,000.  Overpopulated  India  and  China 
are  finding  here  a place  to  which  to  overflow.  Borneo 
alone  is  larger  than  Ohio  and  all  the  States  east  of  it. 
When  in  its  chief  city  I was  shown  about  by  an 
Indian  with  whom  I conversed  in  Hindustani,  and 
went  with  the  rajah  to  his  garden  in  the  evening, 
listened  to  a Manila  band,  and  saw  so  many  well-to- 
do  Chinamen  I almost  felt  that  I was  in  an  improved 
China.  The  Kapuas  River,  in  Borneo,  is  a mile  wide 
and  navigable  by  ocean  steamers  for  over  300  miles. 
For  more  than  200  miles  the  banks  of  this  river 
present  the  appearance  of  an  almost  continuous  vil- 
lage without  a Protestant  mi.ssionary,but  the  Moham- 
medans are  crowding  in  their  missionaries. 

Prom  Ceylon.  India.  Burma,  Siam,  China,  Japan, 
the  Celebes,  the  Philippines,  and  all  the  surrounding 
islands  students  come  to  our  great  Anglo-Chinese 
self-supporting  school  in  Singapore,  until  the  stu- 
dents represent  forty  languiiges,  and  already  some 
are  returning  home  as  Christians  to  these  various 
countries  carrying  the  Bible  and  Christianity  with 
them.  We  have  urgent  calls  to  enter  Bangkok, 
in  Siam,  the  Celebes,  and  others  of  these  very  needy 
islands.  If  we  could  send  six  new  missionaries  at 
once.it  would  give  us  but  one  missionary  for  8,000,000 
people.  I trust  our  Malaysia  Conference  may  have 
in  the  very  near  future  a much  larger  place  in  the 
thoughts,  plans,  prayers,  and  gifts  of  the  Church. 

6 


THE  PHILIPPINES 


The  exceedingly  encouraging  facts  about  our 
Mission  in  the  Philippines  are  well  and  widely  known. 
The  independent  Filipino  Catholic  Church  move- 
ment is  reported  to  have  led  from  two  to  three  mil- 
lions of  people  out  of  Rome.  It  is  a joy  to  report 
that  we  have  now  8,076  members  and  probationers 
in  the  Philippine  Islands.  Through  the  Evangelical 
Union,  which  divides  the  territory  among  the  Mis- 
sions, our  Mission  was  given  equal  privileges  in 
Manila.  To  the  north,  the  very  choicest  part  of  the 
island  of  Luzon  was  allotted  to  us,  and  still  larger 
sections  have  since  been  recognized  by  the  union  as 
our  territory. 

The  Presbyterians  and  Baptists  have  their  mis- 
sions in  Manila,  southward  in  Luzon,  and  on  the  other 
islands.  It  has  generally  been  conceded  that  the 
division  of  territory  gave  abundance  of  field  and 
special  advantages  to  all  Missions.  Recently  the 
Peniel  Mission  asked  us  to  take  them  and  their 
work  in  the  island  of  Mindanao,  and  this  opens  up  to 
us  the  largest  southern  island.  We  believe  by  far 
the  greatest  missionary  opportunity  in  immediate 
results  ever  opened  to  our  Church  is  in  our  posses- 
sion in  the  Philippine  Islands.  Our  hope  and  our 
prayer  is  that  the  funds  for  churches  and  additional 
missionaries  may  soon  reach  the  field,  and  that 
Methodism  may  fully  measure  up  to  its  obligations 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  Filipino  people. 


ADVANCES  DURING  THE  QUADRENNIUM 
The  increase  of  our  Christian  community  has  been 
34.893 — that  is,  a sustained  increase  of  8,723  each 
year, or  a total  of  thirt3'-one  per  cent  during  thequad- 
rennium.  We  had  at  the  end  of  November,  1903, 
a Christian  community  of  146,547,  and  know  of 
6 


special  increases  since  then  which  make  our  present 
Southern  Asia  Christian  community  over  150,000. 
The  Epworth  League  membership  increased  6,094, 
giving  a total  of  17,973.  Our  Sunday  school  schol- 
ars increased  31,681,  making  agrand  total  of  123,737. 
We  have  108  missionaries  and  82  missionaries’ 
wives,  and  153  missionaries  of  the  Woman’s  Foreign 
Missionary  Society,  who  are  just  as  consecrated, 
loyal,  successful,  and  amenable  to  the  authority  of 
the  Church  as  the  men,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  India 
zenana  system  and  other  peculiar  customs  their 
cooperation  is  preeminently  important.  We  owe 
our  success  in  Southern  Asia,  with  God’s  blessing,  to 
this  united  force  of  missionaries  and  to  the  preva- 
lence of  love,  harmony,  consecrated  common  sense, 
and  the  infilling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  an  equip- 
ment for  service.  We  devoutly  thank  God  for  this 
noble  body  of  consecrated  missionaries. 

We  also  have  150  native  members  of  Annual 
Conferences,  each  of  whom  before  becoming  a full 
Conference  member  passed  at  least  twelve  exami- 
nations and  was  under  special  observation  during 
the  same  number  of  years.  These  brethren,  as  would 
be  expected,  have  very  largely  caught  the  spirit  of 
our  missionaries,  and  we  have  noble  Indian  brethren 
in  our  India  Methodism  who  compare  very  favor- 
•ably  with  many  of  our  home  ministers.  We  have, 
in  addition,  including  our  teachers  and  all  other 
grades,  4,320  workers.  In  summarizing,  the 
Central  Conference  Statistical  Secretary  selected 
thirty-one  leading  facts  of  mission  work  and  gave 
the  increases  and  decreases  of  the  quadrennium.  In 
all  these  figures  there  are  only  four  decreases, 
namely,  a decrease  in  the  number  of  missionaries’ 
wives  and  paid  workers,  and  educational  institu- 
tions (though  of  the  last  there  are  still  1,245),  but 
the  notable  decrease  is  that  of  63,095  rupees  in  our 


property  debt,  while  our  property  increased  in  value 
1,385,054  rupees.  We  could  have  had  many  thou- 
sand more  baptisms,  but  we  have  not  had  mission- 
aries and  workers  sufficient  to  teach  and  develop 
them,  and  we  have  not  considered  it  wise  or  safe  to 
baptize  faster  than  we  could  instruct  our  converts. 
Had  there  been  sufficient  workers  to  reasonably 
prepare  and  care  for  the  converts,  we  could  have  re- 
ported another  hundred  thousand  Christians.  Our 
presiding  elder,  the  Rev.  P.  M.  Buck,  of  Meerut, 
as  a missionary  of  the  board,  is  alone  with  23,000 
Christians,  but,  being  a true  Methodist  and  loyal  to 
her  peculiar  means  of  grace,  he  has  in  his  district  600 
class  leaders.  It  is  a pleasure  to  report  that  India 
Methodism  has  her  class  meetings. 

SOME  ENCOURAGING  FACTS 
Northwest  India  Conference  was  organized  only 
eleven  years  ago,  and  it  reported  at  the  last  session 
a Christian  community  of  64,319,  or  almost  20,000 
more  than  any  other  of  our  missionary  Conferences 
in  any  part  of  the  world.  When  the  Indian  census 
was  tak6n  in  1901,  after  a decade,  the  English 
nation  was  astonished  to  learn  that  while  the  whole 
population  of  India  had  increased  only  seven  and  a 
half  per  cent,  the  Christian  population  had  increased 
thirty  per  cent;  but  in  the  United  Provinces,  where 
our  great  North  India  and  Northwest  India  Con- 
ferences are,  the  government  census  shows  that  the 
Christian  population  has  increased  three  hundred 
per  cent. 


EPWORTH  LEAGUE 

At  the  last  session  of  our  Northwest  India  Con- 
ference 160  Epworth  League  charters  were  given 
out  to  as  many  chapters.  Pre\ious  to  this  time 
8 


there  were  58  chapters  that  had  received  charters, 
thus  making  a total  of  218  Epworth  League  chapters 
and  8,380  members  in  that  eleven-year-old  Confer- 
ence. One  of  these  Leagues  holds  40  evangelistic 
meetings  a week,  and  has  400  members,  and  65  of 
its  members  are  looking  forward  to  the  ministry. 

SUNDAY  SCHOOLS 

Let  me  give  you  a comparative  statement  that 
will  throw  some  light  on  our  place  as  a Mission  in 
India.  We  have  an  “India  Sunday  School  Union,” 
and  the  Sunday  schools  of  about  forty  Missions  are 
affiliated,  and  the  children  are  counted  as  members 
in  the  union.  The  secretary  of  the  union  addressed 
our  Bengal  Conference  in  Calcutta  at  its  last  ses- 
sion, and  said:  “There  are  300,000  Sunday  school 
children  in  the  union,  and  it  ought  to  be  encouraging 
to  you  American  Methodists  to  be  told  that  100,000, 
or  one  third  of  the  entire  number,  belong  to  your 
Mission.”  We  have  now  123.737  Sunday  school 
attendants.  In  familiarity  with  the  Scriptures  we 
believe  many  of  our  Indian  youth  compare  very 
favorably  with  the  average  of  the  American  young 
people  in  our  Sunday  schools. 

CONVERSIONS 

In  our  Gujarat  District,  Bombay  Conference,  we 
have  had  one  of  the  most  remarkable  advances  from 
among  non-Christians  known  in  any  Mission  any- 
where. In  the  Fiji  Islands  30,000  converts  were  re- 
ported after  twenty  years,  which  has  been  the  most 
wonderful  record  of  missionary  success  known,  but 
in  Gujarat  we  have  had  23,000  converts  in  less  than 
ten  years,  and,  if  we  could  put  in  a reasonable  in- 
crease of  workers,  before  twenty  years  have  passed 
9 


present  indications  lead  us  to  hope  we  shall  be  far 
beyond  100,000,  and  2,000,000  out  of  11,000,000 
Gujarati  people  appear  to  be  as  accessible  as  those 
who  have  become  Christians.  We  confidently  ex- 
pect that  by  the  time  the  2,000,000  have  become 
Christians  the  entire  11,000,000  will  be  accessible. 
God  is  moving  among  the  nations,  and  his  kingdom 
is  coming  on  earth.  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah! 

EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS 

Our  work  is  not  only  developing  numerically,  but 
we  endeavor  to  have  a fully  equipped  Church  in  all 
departments.  We  have  in  our  schools  of  all  grades, 
from  the  primary  and  kindergarten  to  the  colleges, 
35,438  pupils.  Our  Educational  Committee  at  our 
Central  Conference,  after  carefully  reviewing  our 
educational  work,  reported  that  “besides  many  day 
schools  in  the  various  Conferences,  we  have  in 
Southern  Asia  the  following  institutional  schools.” 
By  institutional  schools  the}'  mean  institutions 
where  there  are  boarders,  and  usually  day  scholars 
also.  There  are  very  few  of  these  schools  that  have 
less  than  one  hundred  pupils,  and  they  grade  up  to 
seven  hundred.  We  have  no  less  than  112  such 
institutions,  and  in  twenty-six  of  these  which  have 
industrial  work  there  are  3,986  pupils.  When  I 
recall  the  small  number  of  missionaries  and  our 
unfavorable  climate,  I cannot  but  marvel  that  so 
much  is  being  accomplished. 

THE  PRESS 

The  printing  press,  an  indispensable  and  mighty 
arm  of  missionary  power,  we  are  using  to  the  utmost 
limit  of  our  ability.  Our  Missionary  Society  has 
never  been  able  to  grant  much  toward  this  depart- 
10 


ment  of  work;  nevertheless,  we  have  six  publishing 
houses  and  are  publishing  in  practically  all  the  lan- 
guages in  which  we  are  working.  Not  having  mis- 
sionary grants  for  publication,  we  are  compelled  to 
do  secular  printing,  in  order  to  use  the  profits  in 
printing  Christian  literature  for  the  infant  Church. 
We  publisli  many  'million  pages  annually.  I know 
of  no  way  in  which  men  of  wealth  could  better 
advance  the  kingdom  than  in  helping  us  give  Chris- 
tian literature  to  the  many  people  of  this  great 
mission  field. 

EXPANSION  OF  OUR  WORK 

Although  we  have  been  unable  to  make  a further 
advance  in  the  direction  of  Central  Asia,  we  still 
maintain  our  outpost  at  Quetta,  while  two  heroic 
ladies  hold  an  outpost  on  the  Kumaon  border  of 
Tibet,  from  which  for  a term  of  years  past  frequent 
visits  have  been  made  into  the  forbidden  land,  while 
workers  are  getting  ready  to  enter  as  soon  as  per- 
manent occupation  is  possible.  At  the  other  end  of 
our  Mission,  in  Malaysia,  our  borders  are  being  ex- 
tended, and  one  of  the  great  events  of  the  quad- 
rennium  is  the  founding  of  a Mission  in  Borneo, 
where  we  have  already  five  church  buildings  and  500 
Christians.  The  e.xpansion  in  the  Philippines  has 
been  remarkable,  and  in  our  old  fields  we  have  filled 
out  much  work  which  was  before  only  in  outline. 
Six  new  districts  have  been  formed  in  India,  which 
include  the  great  provinces  of  Punjab  and  Rajpu- 
tana,  and  great  advances  on  the  Godavery  District, 
which  reaches  into  the  region  of  the  Oriya  language. 

OUR  CHRISTIANS 

What  kind  of  Chri.stians  have  you  in  India?  We 
have  all  kinds — good,  bad,  and  indifferent.  I 
11 


might  ask  you  the  question,  What  kind  have  you  in 
America?  I suppose  you  would  have  to  give  about 
the  same  answer.  If  our  Indian  Christians  are 
judged  by  what  they  give  up,  I think  many  are  far 
ahead  of  the  Christians  at  home.  If  judged  by 
what  they  proportionately  give,  many  of  them 
would  shame  any  Christians  I have  ever  knowm. 
Who  at  home  goes  without  food  to  give?  If  giving 
is  to  be  judged  not  so  much  by  what  is  given  as  by 
what  is  left,  they  are  very  great  givers. 

In  many  of  our  villages  there  is  a prayer  meeting 
every  night.  It  takes  the  place  of  family  worship 
where  the  people  in  the  homes  cannot  read.  I was 
a short  time  ago  at  a meeting  where  there  were  400 
Christians  present,  and  I asked  those  who  lived  in 
villages  where  there  was  a prayer  meeting  every 
night  to  raise  their  hands,  and  almost  all  in  the 
house  raised  their  hands.  One  of  our  missionaries 
told  me  of  a collection  where  there  were  some  poor 
widows,  and  she  knew  that  not  one  of  them  had 
more  than  one  anna  (two  cents)  in  the  world,  but 
they  each  gave  two  pice  (or  one  cent)  at  the  mis- 
sionary collection,  or  half  of  all  they  had  in  the 
world.  The  missionary  said,  “ My  eyes  filled  with 
tears  of  shame,”  and  so  might  the  eyes  of  a large 
part  of  the  whole  Church. 

THE  OUTLOOK 

Remarkable  as  has  been  the  growth  of  our  work 
during  the  past  quadrennium,  that  alone  does  not 
measure  the  full  depth  of  our  reasons  for  gratitude. 
The  future  opens  before  us  with  brighter  promise 
than  ever  before.  In  the  beginning  of  our  work  in 
India  we  had  to  search  diligently  to  find  the  indi- 
vidual inquirer,  but  now  we  are  sought  for  by  those 
whom  we  have  not  called. 

12 


In  considering  the  outlook  for  the  future  no  one 
thing  demands  more  careful  consideration  than  the 
mass  movement  of  the  lower  castes  toward  Chris- 
tianity. The  leaven  of  the  Gospel  has  so  permeated 
the  mass  of  the  population  that  all  over  the  land 
there  are  indications  of  dissatisfaction  with  old  re- 
ligions and  social  customs,  and  of  a desire  on  the 
part  of  large  bodies  of  people  in  masses  to  accept 
Christianity.  That  these  movements  are  influ- 
enced by  motives  of  many  kinds,  not  all  of  the 
highest,  and  that  evils  of  greater  or  less  magnitude 
may  accompany  them,  is  a matter  beyond  doubt. 
But  the  fact  remains  that  these  movements  give 
the  Church  of  Christ  an  opportunity  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  millions  who  before  were  inaccessible. 
Freed  from  restraint  and  avowedly  seeking  alliance 
with  a new  religion,  they  are  more  than  accessible 
— they  are  a field  ripe  unto  the  harvest. 

In  upper  India,  in  addition  to  the  sweeper  caste, 
from  which  we  have  already  received  100,000  con- 
verts, the  great  Chamar  ca^e,  numbering  millions 
of  adherents,  seems  on  the  verge  of  such  a mass 
movement;  in  Gujarat  the  weaver  caste,  number- 
ing 2,000,000  souls,  is  pleading  for  teachers  and 
preachers  to  prepare  them  for  baptism;  in  Central 
India  500,000  Satnamis,  a monotheistic  class,  by 
their  favorable  attitude  invite  conquest.  In  the 
Kanarese  country,  in  Rajputana,  in  the  great 
Punjab,  and  in  other  sections  of  the  land  these 
movements  are  already  begun  or  seem  imminent. 
This  is  Christianity’s  opportunity;  if  accepted  it 
means  an  amazing  development  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth  and  the  transformation  of  a land 
such  as  has  nev'er  before  been  witnessed.  Shall 
Methodism  fail  in  this  hour  of  opportunity  in  its 
mission  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the  depressed  millions 
of  India? 


13 


OUR  NEEDS 


Our  greatest  need  is  for  more  missionaries.  Our 
founders  and  leaders  are  dropping  very  rapidly  out 
of  our  ranks,  and  there  are  not  sufficient  men  in 
training  for  their  places  to  close  up  the  ranks.  There 
are  too  few  missionaries  even  to  care  sufficiently  for 
our  Christians.  We  have  few  more  missionaries  in 
India  proper  now,  where  we  have  150,000  Christians, 
than  when  we  had  only  10,000.  Think  of  a mis- 
sionary alone  to  develop  23,000  Christians.  How, 
then,  are  we  to  enter  the  great  open  doors  on  every 
hand?  Are  we  to  let  these  multitudes  perish  with- 
out the  Bread  of  life?  I hear  the  Master  say,  “Give 
ye  them  to  eat.”  Let  us  bring  what  we  have  to 
Christ,  as  the  disciples  did,  and  he  will  bless,  and 
these  hungry  souls  shall  be  fed  and  saved. 

We  need  and  could  use  to  great  advantage  fifty 
new  missionaries.  MTiere  are  they  to  come  from? 
When  at  North  Indiana  Conference,  Bishop  McCabe, 
famous  for  money-raising,  presiding,  I told  the 
story  of  our  needs  in  the  city  of  Agra,  where  we  had  a 
church  and  parsonage  built  by  the  people,  but  had 
been  unable  to  put  a missionary  for  five  years.  I 
found  a man  and  his  wife  willing  to  go,  and  Bishop 
McCabe  gave  me  the  privilege  of  about  three  min- 
utes before  the  Conference  to  state  the  case.  I 
asked  for  his  salary,  only  S950.  Bishop  McCabe 
opened  with  a subscription  of  SlOO,  and  soon  they 
raised  the  salary;  the  money  continued  to  pour  in, 
and  they  said,  “What  shall  we  do?”  I answered, 
“ Raise  the  transit,”  and  the  money  continued  to 
pour  in  until  it  passed  $1,500,  salary  and  transit. 
This  help  from  that  great  Conference  will  send  a 
thrill  of  joy  throughout  our  whole  India  Mission. 
Many  people  in  moderate  circumstances  have  been 
answering  Bishop  Thoburn’s  call  for  support  of 
native  pastors  at  $30  and  upward,  and  the  response 
u 


has  saved  the  situation  up  to  this  hour.  But  we 
must  have  advances.  The  richer  individuals, 
churches,  districts,  and  Conferences  must  support 
missionaries.  If  only  fifty  such  from  our  whole 
Church  who  cannot  go  in  their  own  person  would  go 
in  the  person  of  one  who  can,  our  Church  would 
move  out  and  lead  the  world  as  a missionary  force. 
The  nations  will  be  evangelized  when  Clmist’s  spirit 
of  self-sacrifice  and  giving  shall  possess  the  Church. 

Our  ministry  is  ready  to  go.  On  my  return  I 
made  a call  for  three  men  for  whom  I had  salaries 
and  received  forty  applications  for  the  places. 
Good  men  turned  pale  with  disappointment  when 
I had  to  say,  “The  places  are  filled;  I have  no 
money;  I cannot  send  you.” 

A CONTINUOUS  REVIVAL 

It  is  a great  joy  to  report  that  throughout  the 
quadrennium  we  have  been  in  almost  continuous 
revival,  so  much  so  that  I have  been  reminded  of 
Peter’s  defense  for  preaching  to  the  Gentiles,  “And 
as  I began  to  speak,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon  them, 
as  upon  us  at  the  beginning.”  This  blessing  of  ex- 
pectation included  also  the  final  and  complete 
victory  in  saving  the  nations.  What  are  the  signs? 
God  has  marvelously  been  preparing  the  way  for 
India’s  evangelization.  At  the  beginning  of 
modem  missions  all  India  was  closed  and  opposed 
to  Christianit}’,  but  now  multiplied  millions  are 
accessible.  Then  Christian  nations  were  opposed  to 
missions.  It  is  not  remembered  by  many  that  the 
first  British  mis.sionaries  to  India  had  to  fly  to  the 
Danish  government  for  protection.  Now  Great 
Britain  not  only  protects,  but  welcomes  and  co- 
operates with  missionaries  from  all  Christian  lands, 
and  the  waves  of  grace  are  coming  to  India  with 
missionaries  from  many  shores. 

15 


One  is  often  asked,  “Do  you  believe  that  the 
mighty  non-Christian  nations  will  ever  be  evan- 
gelized?” Here  is  an  answer:  The  Son  of  God  has 
begun  to  build  his  Church  among  the  Christless 
nations.  Shall  onlooking  angels,  men,  and  devils 
in  derision  say,  “Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  began  to 
build  his  Church  among  the  nations,  but  was  not 
able  to  finish  ?”  Nay,  verily.  But  time  rolls  apace, 
when,  like  Thomas,  with  all  doubts  gone,  all  tribes 
and  nations  on  the  face  of  the  earth  shall  look  into 
his  glorious  face  and  say,  “ My  Lord  and  my  God!” 

“ The  restless  millions  wait 
The  light  whose  dawning 
Maketh  all  things  new. 

Christ  also  waits. 

But  men  are  late. 

Have  we  done  what  we  could? 

Havel?  Have  you?” 


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